Two Northern California wild horse rescue organizations lay in the path of the 24,323 acre Ponderosa fire. For now, the mustangs are safe, but with the fire only 50% contained, experts worry about possible wind shifts, and most evacuation orders remain in effect.

Last Saturday, Palomino
Armstrong, director of Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang
Rescue was in Dayton, Nevada with her husband Matt, preparing to educate visitors to the Wild Horse and Burro Expo in Reno, when they received a surprise call from their son Dalton.

A
lightning strike had ignited a fire near their Manton,
California home. The fire had spread to 100 acres. By the time Palomino and
Matt arrived home, the Ponderosa Fire had a name and it had grown to over
7,000 acres. A sheriff's evacuation order was in effect.

"We just had time to load up all the critters," Palomino explained. "Praise the Lord that
Shirley[ wild horse angel Shirley Allen, of Dayton] had 3 of the babies! We loaded
DaBubbles and Patches first, but the trailer's “baby door” wasn’t quite finished and
DaBubbles thought it was really fun to run out that hole. The goat would run into the trailer as Dabubbles ran out."

Under bright orange and red skies, with the fire " roaring like a jet
engine" as it bore down on the ranch, Palomino received a second call for
mandatory evacuation. They managed to load the claustrophobic Dakota,
and though Chilly Pepper was wary of entering a dark trailer with
thrashing horses inside, her faith in Palomino prevailed. With all cats,
dogs, horses and wily goat accounted for, they moved to safer territory.

It's not the first time these horses have been rescued. Chilly Pepper was found frozen in the snow next to her dead mother. HoneyBandit, known as the Million Dollar Mustang, was orphaned during the Twin Peaks round-up of wild horses and so badly battered trying to nurse from other mares, he was slated for euthanasia. DaBubbles was attacked by a mountain lion.

Palomino
is grateful for the help of friends and neighbors. She explained why
her family left without clothes and toletrie and ended up spending their
money on food for the animals. "It was snowing ash, and you just get this
really creepy feeling and it is very hard to think clearly."

The Wild Horse Sanctuary, home of the real Phantom Stallion, is in Shingletown, just a few miles away from the heart of the fire.

There, director
Dianne Nelson is braced for trouble, but "So far, the prevailing winds
have kept the fire from burning our way. The smoke is terrible, but the
flames have stayed off about four miles."
Dianne says the offers of help are comforting, but "you can't evacuate
wild horses." The 5,000 acre ranch provides sanctuary for hundreds of
rescued mustangs, and five years of nearby wildfires have actually created a "safe zone" around the ranch. In
addition, the sanctuary has many clearings, and, Dianne says, "Wild horses are smart. They head for open land."

Although the Wild Horse Sanctuary's mustangs are free to obey their instincts
and seek safety on thousands of acres, wild horses trapped and confined by
BLM are in small corrals throughout the West.

Comments:
Hi – Will you please post a link to your Blog at The Mustang Horse Community? Our members will love it. Members include: Mustang Owners, Breeders, Trainers, Experts and LoversIt's easy just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website… it’s a win win. You can also add Photos, Videos and Classifieds if you like. It’s free and easy.Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.The Mustang Horse Community: http://www.vorts.com/mustang_horses/Thanks,James Kaufman, Editor

Howdy Ms Farley!!Wanted to let you know what im doing in the horse world now! As you know I'm at equine College. For the first time I will be at Special Olympics at Kentucky Horse Park this year with my student and her horse! Cant help but think of all the wise horse influences like you ive had along the waybestRachael Y